From authorities

Warsaw’s mayor bans religious symbols

Warsaw's mayor banned religious symbols from public offices on Friday. Rooms open to the public must be secular and neutral, said Rafal Trzaskowski. However, the regulation will not apply to schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

In detail, the internal directive stipulates that public authority employees may not display any religious symbols at their workplaces. This includes the crucifix, for example. Wearing religious symbols for personal use, however, is still permitted; examples include chain pendants, tattoos or bracelets.

Public celebrations and events in the city should also be allowed without prayers. Exceptions are the anniversaries of historical events, such as the anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising on July 31. "We have a holy mass there and it will stay that way," said Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski.

Respect for same-sex couples
Officials in Warsaw have also been asked to respect same-sex couples. There is no "marriage for all" in Poland, but it should be possible to collect papers in the name of the partner. "In the case of a transgender person whose appearance differs from the stereotypes of the gender indicated in the official documents, address them by the name or pronoun they themselves indicate," the order from the Polish capital reads.

The 52-year-old mayor is part of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's liberal-conservative Civic Coalition. He was only recently confirmed in office. The national-conservative opposition party PiS criticized that the order violated the right to religious freedom and announced that it would request a review. Poland is a strongly Catholic country. In the last census, 71.3 percent of people described themselves as Catholic.